


Two Kinds of Taste

by silkmoth



Category: Merlin (BBC)
Genre: Angst, First Time, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-10
Updated: 2011-01-10
Packaged: 2017-10-14 15:35:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/150801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silkmoth/pseuds/silkmoth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur overhears something and talks to Merlin about it. Then things start to get… interesting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two Kinds of Taste

**Two Kinds of Taste**

  
“You did what? With Arthur?”

Arthur froze a few steps from the open door to Morgana’s chambers.

“Shhh! Morgana, please, not so loud!”

That was Gwen. And if she thought Morgana would be able to be quieter, she would be wrong. Arthur pondered for a second if he should turn around and run away, but hey, who would do that? Although he _really_ wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“Gwen! Ewww!”

“What do you mean, ewww? He’s… nice.”

“Nice? Now that sounds exciting!”

“I shouldn’t have told you.”

“No, wait Gwen, I promise, I won’t tell. Anyone. So, you kissed him? How was it?”

“Morgana!”

“What? I want to know. Is he any good?”

Arthur, face burning, waited with bated breath.

“Er… I don’t think he’s very experienced.”

***

“Arthur, you have to get dressed now. You’re already late for dinner.”

Merlin looked at him expectantly, shaking the blue tunic out.

“I’m not hungry. I’ve got a headache.”

Splat. Merlin’s hand landed on Arthur’s forehead.

“You’re ill?”

Arthur shoved him back, stood up and went over to his bed.

“No, I’m not ill, I’m just not hungry!” He yelled.

“Wow, you’re in a great mood. What happened?”

“That’s no concern of you!”

“You know, Arthur, all that yelling can’t be good for your headache. And I will get one, too, if you go on like that.”

With a sigh, Arthur let himself fall back on the bed. Sometimes he longed for the time when Merlin hadn’t been quite so… close. Not that his manservant had ever been docile, but lately… no one talked to the prince in that way. On the other hand… maybe Arthur could talk to Merlin about… He sighed again.

Merlin leaned against one bed post and looked down at him, smiling.

“Come on. What’s going on with you? You’ve bounced around the whole day, grinning like a fool and suddenly, you look like someone told you you have an older brother.”

“An older brother? What are you blathering about? And I most certainly neither bounced nor grinned.”

“Believe me, you did. And an older brother would mean, goodbye to being the mighty Crown Prince.”

By now, _Merlin_ grinned like a fool. Arthur closed his eyes, wishing he could bang his head on something, but he really had a headache. And his neck hurt. And it was cold in his chambers. He felt awful.

“Could you maybe lower yourself to light a fire? It’s cold in here.”

Merlin frowned.

“You sure you’re not feeling sick?”

Arthur sat up again, rubbing his neck.

“No. It’s just… I don’t know. I’m tired.”

Merlin frowned even more.

“Does your neck hurt? Arthur, maybe I should get Gaius…”

“No! I’m not ill, dammit! I just want a fire and a little peace, if possible!”

Merlin raised both hands, backing off. He went over to the fireplace, piling up wood. While he searched for the flint stone, he asked, “do you want to take a bath? Maybe that would help with whatever is going on?”

Arthur watched him for a few seconds, then hung his head.

“Yeah, a bath would be nice.”

***

Sitting in the steaming water, Arthur contemplated his knees. Behind him, he could hear Merlin rustling around, lightning candles, drawing curtains close, fluffing up pillows. Arthur still mused about whether he should talk to Merlin or not. On one hand, Merlin could laugh at him and Arthur’s humiliation would get even bigger. On the other hand… he really wanted to talk to someone. And no matter how often Arthur denied it, Merlin was his friend. His only friend. Arthur rested his chin on his knees and looked morosely at his toes. Suddenly, an apple appeared right in front his face, making him blink.

“Here, eat at least an apple, alright?”

Arthur took the fruit and looked up at Merlin. He didn’t know what his manservant saw on his face, but Merlin’s expression grew more concerned.

“Eat! And lean back a little, maybe I can help with the neck pain.”

Although he mumbled, “it’s not so bad’, Arthur leaned back anyway and almost immediately groaned with pleasure when he felt Merlin’s fingers digging into the tense muscles. His head fell forward again, and he lost the grip on the apple, watching it tumble down in the tub.

After a few minutes of this careful massage, Arthur felt better, almost mellow. His headache was gone and his back pain had vanished, too. He sighed happily.

“Feeling better?”

“Much. Thank you.”

“Welcome. Come on, let’s get you out of the tub and into bed.”

Merlin sounded a little bit like his old nanny, and wasn’t that a weird thought?

Arthur stood up and after toweling himself up with Merlin’s help, he got wrestled into a night gown by his manservant and finally, he could stretch out on his bed, being _tucked in_ by Merlin. Arthur didn’t say a word. He wanted to be pampered right now, dammit. Merlin cared about him, and that was the other thing he craved tonight. Now Arthur had to think about something to say, because he didn’t want Merlin to leave; he didn’t want to be alone.

“Merlin?”

“Hm?” His manservant was over at the table, piling grapes on a plate.

“Are you tired?”

Merlin turned around, plate in hand, and looked at Arthur, obviously surprised.

“No, I’m not. Not at all. Why? You need something?”

Arthur stared at him, again tongue-tied. After a minute, Merlin came over, handed him the grapes, and sat down beside the prince.

“Come on, Arthur, whatever it is, spill.”

“Promise you won’t laugh.”

The prince could see that he startled his manservant again.

“I won’t. I promise.”

Arthur sighed, twiddled with some loose threads of one blanket, and finally started to… spill.

***

A few minutes later, Arthur bit his lips and waited for the other man’s reaction. For a moment, Merlin said nothing. Then the prince heard his manservant take a deep breath.

“Er… this is… well.”

Suspicious, Arthur looked up at Merlin, searching for amusement. He didn’t find it; Merlin appeared serious if a little out of sorts, a little flushed.

“Merlin, what? I told you because… I wanted to hear what you think.” Arthur couldn’t believe he said that, let alone meant it. But it was true.

“Well… is she right? I mean… “

Arthur felt himself blush. Dammit.

“Uh… maybe? I mean, I’m a prince… I can’t go around kissing girls. So… “

“Alright. Is that really so bad? I mean, Gwen likes you, you like her… you can get experienced together, you know?”

Arthur’s head snapped up at that; he suddenly had a not so nice thought.

“How could she even tell? Doesn’t that mean… oh, this is just great! I wonder how many men she’s already kissed?”

Then Arthur stared at his manservant whose face had the color of a strawberry. This couldn’t be true. This was a nightmare.

“You? You kissed her? When?”

Merlin looked at him full of caution, leaning back a little.

“That… that’s not exactly how it was. She kissed me, and I… can’t really remember much. And it was a long time ago, after I was so sick, remember? Last year? It was more a kiss of… relief, you know? Arthur, you have to believe me… I don’t want anything from Gwen.”

“Why? She’s beautiful. Why don’t you…?”

“Uh. I just… don’t, okay? Can’t we just… concentrate on your problem?”

Arthur narrowed his eyes.

“Please don’t tell me you’re still in love with Morgana? Merlin, that’s not…”

“No! I’m not and I never was. You imagine things. I’m not in love with either one, okay?”

“Why not?”

Merlin closed his eyes, looking defeated.

“Arthur… could you please just let it go?” He opened his eyes again, looked at Arthur and sighed. “Obviously not. Look, I… Gods. I don’t like girls… that way.”

“ _What?_ ”

By now, Merlin looked pale and he leaned back from Arthur even further.

“Do you want me to spell it out for you?”

“You’re into guys?”

“Yeah.”

Arthur stared at his manservant for a moment, mouth hanging open. In a thousand years, he wouldn’t have believed that… suddenly, he closed his mouth with an audible snap. Arthur had an excellent, no, a brilliant idea.

***

“You’re crazy? Absolutely not!”

“Why not? Come on, can’t you help me out here?”

“By showing you how to kiss? Are you insane?”

“Why? You said yourself you like men…”

“Arthur! Kissing someone is… personal. It’s not something you just do with someone.”

“What? Am I repulsive or something? Do I have bad breath?”

Merlin just looked at him for a minute, then he let his head fall into his hands, shaking it. Frowning, Arthur watched him. He had no idea why Merlin raised such a stink about this; it wasn’t as if they were strangers after all. Arthur would have no problem with kissing his manservant; Merlin had nice lips, white teeth and he smelled good, so… he smelled good? Weird thought.

Finally, Merlin raised his head again and looked at the prince out of dark eyes, arms crossing. Arthur wondered for a moment why he felt uncomfortable and then he noticed that he never had seen such an expression on Merlin’s face. His manservant looked as if… he had aged years in only ten seconds; and there was something else in Merlin’s eyes, something Arthur didn’t recognize.

“So. You really want to go through with this? You sure you want to learn kissing from _me_?”

Arthur cleared his throat; it _did_ sound a little insane.

“Yeah. I mean… if you want. If you’re okay with it. Look, I’m not saying you have to, you know? It’s…” Arthur stopped himself before he could babble even more nonsense. As if Merlin wouldn’t say “stuff it”; as if Arthur could really _make_ his manservant do anything he really didn’t want to do. The prince knew Merlin for over a year now… and he also knew very well that his manservant wasn’t good at following orders. And Arthur had long ago stopped getting angry about this.

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

The prince almost jumped; he had gotten so lost in his thoughts that he almost had forgotten Merlin was sitting right beside him. And wow, his manservant really didn’t need to sound so matter of fact about this.

“What is it, Arthur? Second thoughts? Just tell me and I’m out of here.”

“Why are you so pissed?”

“I’m not! I’m…” Merlin took a deep breath. “It’s just a strange situation, that’s all. It’s not something I ever thought I would… whatever. How do you want to do this?”

***

Strange wasn’t the right word for _this_.

Merlin was looming above him, so close –and why the hell had Arthur laid on his back on his bed by the way?- and now Merlin was leaning even closer and Arthur was becoming real nervous and… oh.

Soft, soft lips. Touching his, barely there and gone again. Arthur’s lashes fluttered open –he hadn’t even realized he had closed his eyes- and he saw Merlin’s face for about a second and then the lips came back, moving gently over his. Gods, it felt marvellous. Much better than this abrupt pressing and not moving and drawing back thing he had done with Gwen.

Suddenly Merlin opened his mouth a bit and Arthur felt the other man’s teeth gnawing lightly on his lower lip. Little sparks were playing down Arthur’s spine, making him shudder. This wasn’t exactly what he… he opened his mouth to say _something_ and then… and then… Merlin’s tongue slipped between his lips, seeking out is own.

Arthur shrunk back into the pillows and Merlin jumped on his feet, hand covering his mouth.

“Ow, dammit! You bit me!”

“Why did you do that?”

“What? You said you wanted me to kiss you! What did you expect?”

“You… your, er… tongue. That wasn’t…”

“ _What?_ What do you think kissing means? Pressing your mouth on another and then saying goodbye and going your way? I can’t believe anyone can be so…” Merlin broke off suddenly and Arthur knew why; the prince felt as if his whole face was aflame.

Merlin stared at him for a few seconds, then he nodded.

“Alright. I think we should just stop now.”

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Merlin turned around and started towards the door, when Arthur finally rallied.

“No! Stop, come back, I’m sorry. I was startled, that’s all. I…”

His manservant turned around and nodded again.

“It’s okay, Arthur, really. But I think it’s enough for tonight, you know? It is certainly enough for me; I think I’m bleeding.”

“What? God, I’m so…” Arthur stopped; Merlin was grinning all over his face. Great. At least one of them had fun.

“Nah, it’s not so bad. Still, I would like to stay unharmed, so maybe –if you want- we continue this… lesson tomorrow. Alright?”

“Alright. Still… my apologies. Good night, Merlin.”

“Night, Arthur.”

With that, his manservant left and Arthur lay back on the bed, staring at the canopy. After some minutes, he gingerly touched his lips. They felt strange, like they got stung by a bee. _Good night, my ass._ Arthur was sure he wouldn’t get any sleep at all.

***

“Er… shouldn’t we be standing up?” Arthur gasped.

“I don’t really think it would make a difference,” Merlin murmured, cheek on cheek with the prince. His breath blew over Arthur’s ear and the blond man shuddered all over again.

“Alright then,” Arthur answered and, Gods, Merlin’s mouth came down on his, his tongue stroking deep. He got kissed softly, slowly, and Arthur couldn’t help it. His hips came off the bed, pressing against Merlin’s right leg. Moaning quietly, Arthur didn’t even notice at first that Merlin had drawn back a bit, but then he did and froze all over. Shit. He opened his eyes, ready for all hell to break loose, and looked directly into Merlin’s completely black eyes. The other man was also breathing hard and stared down at him.

“Uh… I’m sorry, I…”

“Nothing… nothing to be sorry for. I think that’s normal.”

“Really? Then why don’t you… oh.”

“Yeah, oh. As I said, it’s normal. Kissing should be exciting, shouldn’t it?”

Arthur had no idea. Until he got kissed by _his manservant_ , he hadn’t got really excited about kissing. Maybe it was because they were lying down. Yes, that had to be why.

***

“Merlin? Maybe this time I should try it?”

“Hm? Yes, go ahead.”

Although Arthur had sworn to himself that they would stop doing this in his bed, they were again lying exactly there. Now Arthur turned them over and for the first time, _he_ was looking down on Merlin. Finally he was in charge. Arthur leaned down, nibbled for a while on Merlin’s lower lip, and then he pushed his tongue slowly between those lips, making Merlin open his mouth. He buried his left hand in the dark hair and Merlin moaned softly, leaning into his touch. Arthur’s heart begun to race and he pressed down even harder.

After a few minutes, the prince raised his head and asked, “and?”

“What?”

“You know… is it… good?”

“Yes. Good,” Merlin answered and pulled him down again.

Gods, they really had to stop doing this lying down.

***

Taking a deep breath, Arthur leaned back at the stone wall behind him. It wasn’t such a big difference, kissing while standing up. In fact, it wasn’t different at all.

“Merlin?”

“Hm?”

“Where did you learn to kiss that way?”

Arthur really wanted to know. His manservant came from a small village, dammit. He shouldn’t be able to make such a wreck out of a prince. Especially if said manservant liked men. And that meant, Merlin had done quite a lot of kissing in Camelot, and Arthur wanted to know who got kissed by Merlin. Probably one of his own knights, Arthur was sure.

When Merlin didn’t answer, Arthur peered at him, stared for a moment at the swollen lips, ripped his gaze away to look at his face and saw that his manservant –again- had blushed to a startling red. Why would he…?

In the next second, the prince shoved Merlin back, suddenly furious. Why Arthur hadn’t thought of that before he wasn’t sure. But there was really only one explanation for that blush.

“I don’t believe it! I really don’t! Hah… well, at least I will learn exactly what I need then, huh?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play the fool! I just remembered you shared a room with Lancelot, didn’t you? Just great. Well, alright, teach me! I guess that’s what I’m up against anyway!”

“Lance…Arthur, have you lost your mind? I haven’t kissed… hey!”

With a satisfying crash, one of the prince’s crocks shattered in the fireplace. Arthur was livid, although he wasn’t sure why. After all, he had known for awhile that his biggest opponent for Gwen’s heart was Lancelot. Until now, that had made him sad, not angry, because he had liked the almost knight. But this was too much. Lancelot hadn’t only kissed Gwen, he had also kissed Merlin. What the hell had this ass been thinking? Breaking the hearts of everyone Arthur cared about? With one sudden motion, Arthur turned the table upside down. It made an even more satisfying sound.

“Bloody hell! Stop that, are you crazy? What is it with you?”

Just as Arthur opened his mouth to tell the moron exactly what was on his mind, the door to his chambers burst open and two guards rushed in, swords already drawn.

“Sire! What…?”

Arthur started roaring at once.

“Did I call you? How dare you just barge in like that! Out! Out, both of you!”

The guards left so fast, they almost hurt themselves. Arthur spun around to yell some more at Merlin, but then he paused for a moment. His manservant was propping up the table, looking disgusted.

“Merlin…”

“Arthur, will there ever be a time when you stop being a prat? If so, please tell me when. You have exactly one guess who will have to clean up this mess. You’re totally round the bend! What was this shit for? I didn’t kiss Lancelot, dammit. And if this is because of Gwen, you can clean up for yourself!”

“No, it…” Arthur broke off, startled. It really wasn’t about Gwen. It made no sense at all, but he just flipped out because he thought Lancelot had kissed Merlin.

“What?”

“Merlin… let it be. I take care of that.”

“Fine! Call me when you’re sane again!”

Bang. The door slammed shut behind the other man, and Arthur sat down on a chair, staring at the broken pieces of glass and clay, and was asking himself for the hundredth time what was wrong with him.

***

Arthur watched Merlin dishing out dinner in his chambers and wondered if he should ask or not. Since his manservant seemed to be in a good mood, Arthur thought he could give it a try.

“Merlin?”

“Yes?”

“Er… you really kiss well. How did you…?”

Merlin shot him a warning glance and Arthur raised his hands.

“I’m just curious, really. No throwing things around, I promise. I just don’t know anyone in Camelot beside you who likes men so…”

“It hadn’t been in Camelot.”

Arthur silently released the breath he had been holding. He really hadn’t wanted to hear the name of one of his knights.

“So in Ealdor, then? Who… oh, it was Will, wasn’t it?”

Merlin looked at him for a moment, then he lowered his eyes and nodded.

“Sorry.”

“S’okay.”

Arthur watched the other man for awhile, biting his lips. He really shouldn’t… ah hell.

“So… you’ve been together? Er… did you do… anything else beside kis…?”

Merlin turned around, red-faced, smashed the plates down on the table and yelled, “Yes! Yes, quite a lot of things, Arthur. None of them would interest you! So give it a rest!”

Arthur nodded and looked down on his plate. He started to eat and tasted nothing.

***

Since the thing with that winged monster cat had gone down, Merlin had been subdued for days, no matter what Arthur had tried. The prince missed the closeness, hell, he even missed the fights he had had with his manservant.

“Merlin, would you come here for a moment?”

Merlin looked up from the fireplace, where he had been poking at the flames for minutes now, and at the prince sitting on the bed. He sighed, stood up and sat down beside Arthur.

“I’m not really in the mood for…”

“Me neither.”

Arthur laid one arm around the other man’s shoulder and drew him close, and after resisting for a moment, Merlin leaned against him. Arthur rested his cheek on the dark hair and closed his eyes; for once, he didn’t want to pester Merlin with questions.

“Arthur?”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever done something… something you knew wouldn’t work out, but you did it anyway?”

Arthur thought back on twenty years of lost arguments with his father and huffed quietly.

“Too often to count.”

“Yeah.”

Merlin leaned closer, and then slipped an arm around Arthur’s waist. How long they sat this way, Arthur didn’t know.

***

The prince felt tired to the bone. The last days had been so terrible, first Morgana had been kidnapped, then the whole crazy fighting with the dragon, the loss of almost every one of his knights… he was exhausted. And not looking forward to the rest of the night. He knew he had to talk to his father now… but he really didn’t want to. What he wanted was to crawl into bed and listen to Merlin telling him what exactly had happened after he got knocked out tonight.

Thinking of Merlin… Arthur turned around to his manservant, calling out, “Merlin? Could you…”

He broke off when he saw Merlin’s face. He looked exhausted too, alright, but he also looked… sad.

“Merlin? You alright?”

His manservant, who had by now caught up with Gwen and him, just nodded. Then he put an awfully fake looking smile on his face, asking,”Sire? You wanted something?”

“No. No, I just wanted to know if you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, thank you.” With that, Merlin walked by him, followed by Gaius, and vanished inside the castle.

Arthur, who felt let down somehow, continued on his own way in the direction of his father’s chambers, Gwen still clinging to his arm. The moment they climbed to the first landing, Gwen stopped and Arthur turned towards her, raising an eyebrow. Gwen looked at him for a moment, then drew him into a small oriel. Arthur followed, feeling a little confused.

“I’m really happy you’re not hurt, Arthur.”

“Yeah. I just wish I could say the same for my knights.”

“Of course.” Gwen continued to look at him, and then she started to smile and tilted her head back.

For a second, Arthur became even more confused and then he started to catch up. He looked down at her face, her lips, and the only thing he could see were Merlin’s lips and his sad eyes. He backed away from Gwen so quickly that she almost overbalanced because she still had had her hand on his arm.

“I’m sorry, Gwen. I have to go and see my father.”

Arthur turned around and left, running up the stairs, his mind a tumbling chaos. He felt as if he had just run headfirst into a brick wall.

***

After a short, unsatisfying conversation with his father, who also didn’t care about Arthur’s knights, the prince arrived at Gaius’ and Merlin’s rooms, hesitating for a minute. Then he knocked and went in.

“Sire? You’re feeling alright?” Gaius asked, obviously surprised by Arthur’s arrival.

“Yes. Yes, I am. I want to talk to Merlin for a moment… is he in his room?”

“No, he isn’t. I think he went upstairs to your chambers, sire. Preparing everything for the night.”

“Thank you, Gaius.”

Arthur turned around on his heel and left towards his own rooms, again running upstairs. Only minutes later, he opened his door and the first thing he saw was the tub filled with steaming water and flames crackling in the fireplace. For a moment, he thought he had missed Merlin, but then he noticed a sudden movement out of the corner of his eyes and turned to the left. There was Merlin, standing awkwardly in front of Arthur’s bed, wiping his face with his right sleeve. He was crying.

***

Arthur rushed forward, stopping abruptly when he saw Merlin backing off.

“Merlin?”

“Where is Gwen?”

“Gwen? No idea. I was looking for you and…”

“Arthur, I can’t do this anymore. I’m sorry, I just can’t.”

“What can’t you do anymore?”

“This… us. Kissing. I can’t.”

Arthur, heart sinking, looked at his manservant. Merlin almost seemed to be broken, and the prince had no real idea what had happened. He had the feeling he should _know_ what’s going on with Merlin but he had trouble making sense of his own reeling emotions. But he knew he had to talk to Merlin, now. Something was going on between them, something that would shatter if he let Merlin out of this room tonight.

“Merlin, please sit down.”

“Arthur, I…”

“Please.”

Merlin stared at him for a minute, then dropped down on the bed. He was still crying but he didn’t even wipe his face anymore, as if he wasn’t aware of the tears. Arthur longed to go over to him, to take him into his arms but he was sure Merlin would run away if he came too close. So he took one of his wooden chairs and dragged it over to the bed, sitting down in front of Merlin; close but not too close.

“Merlin, I don’t know what…”

“Look, Arthur, this is my fault. All of it. I shouldn’t have said yes to this in the beginning. But I.. “ Merlin broke off, burying his head in his hands. A new wave of tears followed, making him shake all over.

Arthur couldn’t stand it, he couldn’t keep his distance. In the blink of an eye, he was beside the other man, drawing him into a tight hug and not releasing him, even when Merlin struggled for a few seconds to get away. Finally, Merlin gave up and leaned into the embrace, sobbing earnestly now. Arthur felt himself trembling; his skin felt too tight and something inside him was spinning out of control, building and building. He knew he held on much too tight, but he couldn’t let go.

For a few minutes, both men just sat there hugging, almost clinging to each other. Then Arthur made one of his hands let go of the other man’s shirt and laid it on his cheek, trying to raise Merlin’s head from his shoulder.

“Merlin, talk to me? Please talk to me.”

“I… I don’t even know what I can say.”

“You can tell me everything.”

Merlin huffed and hiccupped at the same time.

“Arthur, you have no idea.”

“Then talk to me.”

“I… this whole thing was so stupid. I was so stupid. I thought… I thought I could just take what I can get. But I can’t. Not anymore. I can’t stand to see you with Gwen and thinking that you will… do with her what I did with you and… Gods, Arthur,” Merlin tried again to draw back and again, Arthur didn’t let him go. To the contrary, he clutched him even tighter. He heard Merlin swallow another sob, and then the other man continued.

“I knew from the beginning that this wasn’t… that you didn’t feel… Arthur, I don’t know how to explain this!”

“That I didn’t feel what?”

Merlin, appearing almost angry now, tried to shove Arthur back and again, the prince just held on.

“You want me to spell it out for you? I’m in love with you. And I know you aren’t. Now let me GO!”

“You’re wrong.”

“Hah! Now you want to tell me how I feel? Gods, you’re the most…”

“No. You’re wrong about me.”

Merlin, still talking and still struggling, suddenly stopped.

“What?”

‘Gods, this is scary,’ Arthur thought. ‘This is scarier than anything I’ve ever done in my whole life.’

“I love you.”

Silence. Then: “You love Gwen.”

“No. No, I don’t. I thought I did. But… I never felt anything like what I feel for you. _This_ is love.” Arthur huffed silently. “You should know. I wasn’t very experienced before you… showed me.”

“Arthur. Look, I… this is sex you’re talking about, not love. If you would do this with Gwen then…”

“Stop it. You’re wrong again. I felt this way for you before our first kiss. I just didn’t know what it meant. And hell, I could have kissed Gwen tonight… I could have done more with Gwen tonight than we ever did but I didn’t want to. I don’t want her. I don’t love her. I never did. I just didn’t know.”

“You… are you sure? Don’t say this when you don’t mean it, please!”

“I’m sure. Absolutely.”

Merlin stared at him for about a second, then Arthur got literally jumped. Their lips crashed together, and if Arthur had thought that he knew by now what kissing meant he was about to be taught otherwise. Moaning, Arthur grabbed the hem of Merlin’s shirt and pulled it up, only to be stopped _again_ because Merlin said, “Wait, wait,” and did the unforgivable by sitting up, away from Arthur. The prince groaned. This could only mean one thing and Arthur really wasn’t in the mood for _that_ talk now.

“Arthur, just wait a second, I…”

“No! I feel honored and I promise I’m not mad nor will I be but right now is not the time for you to tell me about your magic. We can do that tomo…”

“ _WHAT?_ ”

“Er… you wanted to tell me about it, didn’t you?”

“I… yes, I wanted to tell you but… not now. I wanted to lock the door.”

Arthur started to smile, and seconds later he was rolling around on the bed, laughing his head off. _This was so typical._

“Since when do you know… Arthur! Would you please stop laughing!”

Merlin sounded so _irritated._ It made Arthur laugh even harder. Finally, he calmed down somewhat, sat up, grabbed Merlin’s wrist and tugged him down on top of him.

“You’re not getting up from this bed. Lock the door from here, I’m sure you can do it.”

Breathing hard, Merlin stared down at Arthur and then wriggled his free hand a little oddly over their heads; the sound of the door locking followed immediately.

“Show-off,” Arthur growled and then rolled them both over until he could look down at the other man. He really wanted to try out some of the things he hadn’t been able to stop day-dreaming about over the last weeks.

***

Day-dreaming was obviously a very good thing. A short time later, both men were naked; moaning, sweating, and they almost fell out of the bed once.

Arthur was getting a little desperate; he was certain if Merlin once more arched up against him in that way, he would simply come, and that didn’t seem right. Again, the prince wasn’t sure what to do.

Panting, Arthur raised his head and stared down at the mess that one hour ago had been his manservant. The mess asked exasperated, “what?”

“Er… what do you want?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I mean… how do you… I have no idea. Tell me what I should do.”

The other man looked up at him, and then Arthur wondered how Merlin managed to blush so hard without losing…

“Ah, Arthur, I… don’t know either. What we were doing seemed fine to me.”

Arthur cocked his head. “What do you mean? You told me…”

“I lied. And now shut up.”

“You… ohhhhhhh…”

Somehow Merlin had slipped his hand between their bodies and now he held both of their cocks, adapting his grip to press them together and started to stroke. Arthur’s eyes crossed. He held on, lowering his head to get another one of these fantastic kisses; the kisses that had turned his whole world upside down not too long ago. Then he shuddered, heard himself whimpering into the kiss and Merlin arched up and… his body seized up in pleasure, blinding him, making him fall forward, right onto that beautiful, moaning mouth and into the next kiss.

***

“We were pretty good.”

“Mhm.”

“I bet there are many ways…. I think I will go down to the Hall of Records tomorrow. I just bet there are books about…”

“Merlin.”

“Hm?”

“Maybe we should try and figure some of it out on our own. No need to scare Geoffrey to death.”

“Huh. Okay, it’s probably more fun anyway.”

“When we’re getting bored, you can start looking for a book and… ow! Stop that!”

“Prat.”

“Moron.”

“Love you.”

“Love you.”

  
The End.

 _”There are two kinds of taste, the taste for emotions of surprise and the taste for emotions of recognition.”_

Henry James


End file.
